You're in big trouble, though, pal. I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast.
You eat pieces of shit for breakfast?
No.
Welcome back to another episode of Breakfast of Champions. This is season one, episode six.
This is our first remote location we've only ever been in the practice space, so I'm very excited.
I'm your co-host, Renee Floyd, and I'm going to throw it to my other co-host and best friend, Parker.
Hello. Good morning. Yeah, big time. We're getting out of the practice space. We're seeing the world.
We're here with Kevin O'Malley, and we're at the Fort Worth Float Company. If you want to say hi to everybody, Kevin.
Hi, I'm Kevin O'Malley.
Welcome, Kevin. Thanks for having us here. This is a beautiful place. I've never been here before.
I'm very excited to be on the podcast and be the new co-host. Thanks.
He's coming for my job.
I'm down for that. We could always add a third.
Three co-hosts now.
All right. I've eaten a lot of breakfast food with Kevin, but we'll get into that here in a little bit.
And he's also rained down violence on me as well.
Thank you for joining us. If you've never joined us before this podcast is about breakfast foods and violence,
you can find us anywhere that you find regular podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, anything like that.
If you've got a comment for us, please give us a phone call at 682-294-0101.
A hockey episode drop today. And if you listen to the very beginning of the episode, you will hear a special review from a very special guest.
So if you have a review for us, if you'd like to tell us where we need to eat breakfast or have any ideas for us,
once again, that phone number is 682-294-0101. We'd love to hear from you.
All right. Jump into our breakfast food of the day.
Sure. Looks very good. What do we got here, Parker?
So this was suggested by hopefully a soon-to-be caller named the Baja Blaster.
He found me in the real world to tell me that we should do Taco Bell breakfast, which I've never had Taco Bell breakfast.
Nor I.
What about you, Kevin? You had Taco Bell?
I've had Taco Cabana, but not Taco Bell.
Well, so we stopped this morning and I got us some breakfast crunch wraps with sausage, egg, and potato.
It's like a hash brown patty in there. And it looks pretty delicious.
So we're going to check that out today.
We might do a continuing series on Taco Bell breakfast if this impresses us.
And so we've been doing donut holes, but since we are living moss,
we're going to go with the bell scale. So we'll do one through six rating this.
And it'll be on things like taste, freshness because it's Taco Bell value.
And like, would you go back and get this?
Like, does it stand up to like a McGrittle, you know, something like that?
So are you a how, how do the vegans get down with the Taco Bell?
I know that there's a few items there.
Yeah. Taco Bell is a lifesaver when you were a vegan on tour or traveling.
I wanted to mention that because I knew like, yeah, it is sometimes it's hard to find places.
Yeah. Kevin, you are a former vegan.
Did you eat a lot of Taco Bell when you were vegan?
No, I never really did. You know, also being kind of a picky eater.
I never ate out a whole lot just made my own bullshit at home.
That makes sense.
That's always the way to go.
But yeah, I was I'd get a my go to cheesy bean and rice 86 the cheese, add potatoes to it.
That I add potatoes to everything on the Taco Bell menu.
What? What a good secret.
I don't think I've ever added potatoes to anything.
I talk about that now that you've got black beans.
So I'll do like a black bean chalupa supreme, no sour cream, no cheese and then add potatoes, sometimes rice to it.
Dang. Yeah.
So Taco Bell is normally like drunk food.
Do you agree?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I I guilty pleasure at some times, but and I'm also not a big drinker.
I'm not like hitting the bell at two or three in the morning because I'm usually asleep and not drunk.
But I love Taco Bell.
I've loved it since I was a kid.
I'm excited to try it.
I'm glad that you brought this up and I'm glad that the what was his name?
Baja the Baja Blaster.
He used to give us a call when he hears this.
Man, we've got such a cool cast of characters that are coming together.
If you heard the episode today, we got Manchomania calling in.
We've got the Baja Blaster giving us suggestions and I heard there's somebody named Jean or something like that.
Yeah, we'll see how this.
I don't want to talk about.
Oh, OK.
We'll get into the gene later.
But all right.
Yeah.
So who wants to go first?
You want to Rochambo it or?
I don't know, Kevin, you're the picky eater.
I want your Kevin's going to go first.
I'm going to describe what he's eating as he's eating it.
So we've got a one, two, three, four, five, six sided.
What is that a sex tagginal tortilla that looks like it is stuffed full of breakfast foods?
What do you think it's defense budget is?
Sorry.
Oh, man.
We won't go there.
No plane parts in this place.
So yeah.
So it was grilled.
There's a nice browning on the outside.
There's warm.
It's thick.
I'd say it's probably about an inch and a half thick.
It is probably about the size of a palm of the hand.
So it's a good portion.
It's not too small, not too big.
You're not, you know, use your typical American size.
I was expecting this to be quite huge.
Kevin, you're a few bites.
Initial thoughts, Kev.
It's pretty good.
I like it.
You know, it's Taco Bell food and there's some orange stuff in here.
I'm not sure what that is.
That was probably like a spicy sauce of some sort, like a spicy mayonnaise or ranch, maybe.
Cupid mayo.
Well, Parker just took his bite and I'm dipping mine in some fire sauce.
We've got an assortment of sauces here.
I've never seen this avocado verde salsa packet that looks like it.
Oh, yeah, it's see-through.
It's not like the normal ones.
You can actually see what's in there.
You can see right through that package.
Well, that actually looks nice.
Okay, and then we've also got breakfast salsa.
Oh, I didn't even know they had a breakfast salsa.
Yeah.
So I'm wondering if it's more of a look at the content.
Probably.
But yeah, here we go again is what's on mine.
Mine says I'm just getting started.
Speaking of which, I'm going to take a quick bite.
Awesome.
So yeah, it definitely feels like a, like a lower tier, like what a burger to keto, like
the potatoes, egg and cheese or sausage, egg and cheese to keto from what a burger,
but just wrapped in a creative manner.
And they looks like they do the egg and the sausage patty and then the hash brown patty.
I would reverse that if we're doing a crunch wrap, like you always have the, like the crispy
part in the middle, I would totally put the potatoes in between the eggs and the sausage
if it were me.
I agree.
It's not a whole lot of crunch so far in mind.
Yeah.
They lied about that crunch part.
I think it could be a little bit crunchier.
Granted, I did pick these up like 45 minutes ago.
So they might, they might be a little bit crunchier fresh.
Um, yeah, I was just taking a look at that sausage is quite great.
It's quite great looking.
The sausage is not appetizing to look at.
Yeah.
Taco Bell.
I wonder what else you have on your menu because this is okay, but I think I'd like
to see what else you have on your menu.
I agree.
That sauce is a little bit spicy and very orangey.
It reminds me of, like you said, Cupid Mayo or something like that.
It's okay.
I was expecting more from you Taco Bell.
All right, Kevin, how many on again, our grading sale is one out of six bells.
Six is like, this is great.
I'm going to eat it every morning.
One is I will probably never eat this again.
One on taste, freshness, value.
This one in particular, I probably give it a three.
You know, again, I'm kind of a picky eater and don't really like sauces or mayo especially.
What about ketchup?
If I put some ketchup on it, would it make it better?
What about you shut up?
Yeah.
I also do not eat tomatoes in any form just so everybody knows and understands that and
don't talk to me about it.
But this, if it was a little fresher and didn't have the mayo, you know, it'd be a good thing
to get.
You know, if I'm hungry or just don't have a whole lot of time to pick up something better.
So I would get it again under those circumstances.
Okay.
Well, that's fair.
We got three bells there.
Yeah.
I, yeah, I was thinking two and a half or three bells.
As far as value goes, like it's a pretty hearty thing.
I think just eating this and like I'd be set.
I wouldn't need something else.
Taste.
I'm not the best you can tell like they didn't go for the greatest ingredients.
They did advertise all over the menu that it's cage free eggs.
That's very interesting.
Yeah.
So, exactly.
The sausage, you know, looks like it was, who knows what that is.
And value.
Yeah.
You know, if there wasn't a better option, I was in the middle of nowhere and I was wanting
some breakfast.
This would, and I needed to rip it and grip it.
This would be the one.
So you said 2.5 or three?
Oh, we'll go to defend it.
If on this, let's go 2.5.
Okay.
I'm not going out of my way to get this again, but if I'm in the middle of nowhere, it'll
do.
I'm going to go to, I didn't, I didn't enjoy this at all.
Um, probably, you know, like you said, it probably would be better, a little bit fresh
off the griddle, but I see something like this and how simple the ingredients are.
And I think how can you mess it up?
Because you can make something like this at home and just do a little bit better job
in my opinion.
Exactly.
And then you kind of, you want to make it yourself.
You don't want to make, you don't want to grab something like this on the go and be
like, oh, this is gourmet, but I will say I do like the simple thing.
So it had that going for it.
It's not too complicated.
Yeah.
Uh, I think if you left the mayo off and let us decide what sauce we want on it, I think
we could probably kick it up a notch.
I think the forcing of the sauce is not a good thing.
No, I, I completely agree.
I also wonder if maybe the bacon version is better or just a potato egg and cheese would
be better because the sausage is the part that I've, yeah, much like shiplies.
We might have to give this a second run.
Yeah.
Well, they've got a big breakfast menu, so I know we're a little doughnutted out here
for taking a break.
So maybe we'll T bell it.
So we've got two, 2.5 and three.
I think that makes the average a 2.5.
Yeah.
All right.
So Taco Bell, Baja Blaster, 2.5 out of six on the scale, six bells.
I did buy a Baja Blaster for Kevin to enjoy while he eats this.
I am enjoying this Baja Blaster.
If you're not, six bells on the Baja Blaster.
If you're not Blaster and you're not living moss, there's no sugar too.
I like that.
Nice.
I am not a full sugar guy.
All right.
Well, I think a case closed on our first Taco Bell breakfast.
We'll have to revisit in future episodes on some of the items.
We're going to have to remote Taco Bell breakfast that.
Yeah.
We could go to the two story Taco Bell that doesn't actually have an open two story.
What if we kissed on the second story of the Taco Bell?
I have a feeling it's just storage, right?
Yeah.
I bet people have definitely kissed on that Taco Bell storage room.
Speaking of that, I don't know if you saw this week or last week, I think it was.
There's a lady that worked at a grocery store and they had one of those second story like
fake living room type situations and she lived there successfully for over a year.
Squatters rights.
Yeah.
Until some electricians were coming to fix a sign and they saw a long extension cord
running up there and they found her little apartment up there.
That sounds a lot like the room in a house I used to live in, which is where I met Kevin
O'Malley.
Perfect segue.
Yeah.
You set that up and you had no idea.
I didn't.
I was basically squatting in a room in this house and I ran an extension cord from the
attic into my room to run all of my electronics.
And that house was called the Wolf Den and that is where I met Kevin because a bunch
of my friends lived there before I moved in.
I think Kevin moved out right before I moved in.
We never lived there at the same time.
You know, another house I lived in, I met another one of my best friends there who is
living on a hallway under some stairs.
So I met two really good friends.
That's amazing.
You never know what you're going to find squatting or in a squatter you could find a best friend.
Exactly.
There's so many negative stories about squatters these days.
We're here to bring the light and levity to squatter stories.
You could find a best friend.
You could find a rolling partner.
Find a breakfast of champion in a squatter.
It just takes a little bit of time and patience, I think.
Yeah.
I also paid my dues and I had skabies, so it was legit.
Wow.
Yeah.
I had that at Atak Hugi Boogie Land.
We did call it Hugi Boogie Land and I found Jeremy's childhood Star Wars collection in
there one time.
I had no idea about this.
Yeah.
It was when Jeremy and I lived there together.
But yeah, so we'll go back to Wolfton and Jeremy.
This place sounds magical.
It was definitely, there's a lot of good memories tied to there.
So yeah, so I met you there because a bunch of my friends lived in that house and you
were the guy with the wrestling mats in the back room.
That's how I met you.
So I knew violence from first moment.
But really, I think our true origin story is I used to do these VHS screenings with one
of my buddies that lived with Kevin.
And we did a hot dog, a veggie dog eating contest at this place called 1919 before one
of our screenings.
And I was like preparing for this.
I was so ready.
And I, you know, Kevin shows up like literally right before we're about to start, sits down
across the table from me and just starts housing veggie dogs.
We got 10 minutes to eat as many veggie dogs as possible.
And like, me and his friend like made a like trophy for the winner.
It was super cool.
I was super excited to grab it.
And Kevin sitting across from me, just making intense eye contact the whole time, just fucking
deep throat and veggie glizzies.
Just one after the other, like a fucking machine, not blinking, like peering into my soul.
And I get to, I think, number nine and I start gagging and I throw it up and we've got like
30 seconds left.
Kevin finishes his ninth hot dog, gets his 10th and I believe you finished your 10th
hot dog as the timer went off.
I think so.
It's been a while, but yeah.
You grab your trophy, you grab a hot dog for the road and you hop on your bike and you
take off into the sunset.
You don't stick around for the movie screening.
You just collect your prize, hop on your bike, hot dog for the road after eating 10 hot dogs
in 10 minutes.
And then you're off again into the sunset.
And I was like, who the fuck was that guy?
I knew who you were, but we were not friends until that moment.
And I was terrified of you and knew that we needed to become friends.
You didn't really know me until that happened.
Exactly.
Were you squatting while this happened or this is before this?
No, this, I think I was living in Hultum City at the time this happened.
I was not, again, I had a bunch of friends who lived in the house with Kevin.
So I got you.
Kevin and I had met in passing, but this was our first real moment together.
Speaking of hot dog eating contest, I just, as you were talking, Joey Chestnut, who many
consider the Michael Jordan of hot dog eating contests.
He is being banned from this year's real hot dog eating contest because he has signed,
I guess a sponsorship agreement with a vegan hot dog company.
Oh, which one?
I don't know.
Let me see here.
Is it impossible?
Yeah, it is impossible.
Oh, that's huge.
So impossible.
Just released like the best vegan hot dog I've ever put in my mouth.
Yeah, but no, no jokes aside, it is delicious and you, it tastes like you got it off a
roller-grill at like a like 7-11.
So they said because of his association with vegan ducks, he's no longer allowed to compete
in and I think that was just an easy way to get him out of the way.
I think that's how she wants that, that crown back.
But yeah, so he signed an agreement with Impossible this year and Nathan's was like,
mm-mm, see ya.
Wow.
So I thought that was very cool that you guys had a little veggie dog contest met each other
and then just this week they ousted the Michael Jordan of hot dog eating contest just simply
because he prefers a veggie dog.
Well, Kevin is the Michael Jordan of Fort Worth veggie dog eating.
That's what's up.
As far as I know, there's no, hasn't been anybody else who's done what I did.
As far as I know too.
I also haven't paid attention.
If you've eaten 11 veggie dogs in Fort Worth, Texas, we need to hear from you.
Give us a call.
And Kevin has the right to challenge for his crown back.
We don't need proof if you say you did it.
That's true.
Because we have witnessed, many witnesses at the time.
And there's videos floating around on the internet from 2011 when they started.
I've got a question.
Do you remember what you were screening?
Yeah, it was the Wizard of Speed and Time.
Wow.
It was 1989.
I could, that's very blurred.
I love that you remember exactly what you were screening.
This was 13 years ago.
So Kevin, did you ever watch that?
You still not seen that movie?
Well, being that we had mutual friends and one of my roommates at the time was big in
the movies.
I think I did see it with him.
Nice.
Yeah.
He's right.
He's wrong.
Yeah.
No, that friend, I had never heard of this movie before we screened it.
And yeah, it's really cool.
I want to say it was like 1989.
Definitely late 80s or early 90s.
And it's all about this guy who was a like master visual effects artist and the guy like
and he's doing all this cool like stop animation stuff.
It's a cool movie.
But yeah, that's that's what we screened after we ate hot dogs.
I don't know why we chose veggie dogs for that movie, but we did a lot of cool stuff
like that.
Cool.
Well, so that's how you and I met.
And then was it after that that you move?
You know, I moved out of that house and you moved in shortly after.
And when I moved out, I was moving to China because I was going to be teaching over there.
Okay.
So yeah, we kind of like lost touch.
And then I went to take a jiu jitsu class and here comes Kevin walking in for the next
class.
I'm going to turn to the owner of the place.
I was like, Hey, is that Kevin O'Malley?
And he's like, yeah.
And I was like, so funny.
Me and Kevin O'Malley were eating a whole bunch of veggie dogs and I tell him the story.
And I think that now like it's kind of an ongoing joke because I've met guys at training
jiu jitsu elsewhere and I'm like, Oh, hey, do you know Kevin?
Oh, yeah.
No, Kevin.
He, uh, he's got the float company and, uh, yeah, hot dogs with it.
And they're like, you're the hot dog dude.
Oh my God.
I've heard that story.
So I've met guys in three different jiu jitsu gyms who have heard the hot dog story.
Yeah.
That story was actually told, told by the coach when I got my brown belt.
That's amazing.
Holy shit.
And then like the meat telling the story is part of your brown belt.
Yeah.
That you're never going to forget it.
It's always going to be associated with you too.
And it's now going to be on the internet forever.
So hot dogs and violence.
Yeah.
All right.
I love that.
So I'll tell my part of the story.
Yeah.
Let's hear that.
I knew that contest was happening that day.
And if I'm remembering right, it was around spring break and I was, um, in a, a life
guard class, you know, training to be a life guard.
And if you're familiar with Fort Worth, you know where Fairmont is, that's where we lived.
So I rode my bike from there over to the LA fitness on seven street where I did all the
swimming stuff I had to do.
And I think I may have lifted weights too that day.
Then we're on my bike all the way back and I really just wanted to eat a lot of hot dogs
and I was really, really hungry.
I hadn't really thought about winning it.
I just wanted to eat something.
I won.
And that was it.
Yeah.
You burned a lot of calories that they got.
Damn.
That makes sense, especially if you rode your bike from West seventh over to Hemphill after
working out and doing swimming stuff.
That's probably four or five miles.
Yeah.
At least again, you were locked in a machine just housing hot dogs.
So it makes so much more sense in that perspective.
Yeah.
All right.
Do we want to jump into these like ice breaker questions?
Yeah.
If you'd like to, I just pulled them over just because I figured you guys would take it away
with that hot dog story.
But yeah, if you guys want to get into it, let's get into it.
Get into it.
So last time we had a guest, we talked about how sometimes the ice breakers or the lightning
questions are like the inside the actor's studio.
The best questions kind of come with quick responses, quick, just quick fun stuff.
You kind of get a gauge into somebody's personality.
So these don't have to be like super ornate long answers.
They're just like fun questions.
If you'd like to expound on them, feel free.
The first one was already asked.
So Parker, why don't you take it away with the second question?
What's your typical breakfast like in the day to day?
Usually I don't actually eat breakfast.
All right.
The podcast is over.
Renee doesn't eat breakfast.
Kevin doesn't eat breakfast.
Sorry.
I've been eating breakfast lately.
What I do do though most mornings is I'll have coffee with MCT oil and protein powder.
So I'm not too hungry.
And most mornings I'm working out in some form or another.
And that'll just hold me over until afterwards and I can eat some real food.
I love that.
MCT oil, is that coconut oil?
Just concentrated form?
I think it's made from coconut oil.
Okay.
I just want to, sometimes people don't know what stuff is.
And I personally, I know kind of what it is, but I didn't know if, is that kind of lubing
up the joints for working out or kind of?
Not really.
It's some healthy fats, so it helps you feel not too hungry.
And from my understanding with the caffeine from the coffee, they kind of bind together
and it releases the caffeine slower.
So you don't get those jitters or crash at all, more consistent throughout the day.
I like that.
I didn't know.
Benefits of MCT.
Medium chain triglycerides is what it stands for.
And yeah, so it's like a more sustained release of energy.
And also, like if you're doing a low carb diet, if you're one of those people, it will,
your body will use that fat as energy, especially if you haven't eaten overnight, it'll probably
help with using it for energy besides just the caffeine.
And I believe it also has some cognitive benefits.
It's got like some omega-3 fatty acids and stuff in it.
Very cool.
I always kind of like to dig into that sort of thing.
I like to give up my credibility all the time because I'm like, yeah, Joe Rogan says
MCT oil, so I must know what that means.
And then I hear somebody actually in real life taking it.
I'm like, how does that benefit you in real life?
Because I know what the internet says or whatever, but I really kind of want to give up my credibility
when it comes to anything like nutrition related because I know Jack squat.
Like, I went vegan for two years.
And the very next year, I was just like, let's get all the meats.
And then I just, I'll eat a bag of candy.
Meat part.
Yeah.
So I'm very interested.
Kevin, do you have an all time favorite breakfast cereal?
Probably cinnamon toast crunch.
Yeah.
Especially now that I have kids and I can share it with them.
We have a big fat box of that in my pantry right now.
I'm loving it.
This is a two for two guess going cinnamon toast.
Yeah.
I don't think we've had another answer besides cinnamon toast crunch.
So what I like is when you find the good piece and then you flip it over and it's got all
the sugar and cinnamon on that side.
That is the best.
I just thought about this.
What if we made cinnamon toast crunch crispy bars like instead of rice crispy treats, we
use cinnamon toast crunch?
Yes.
I actually, I saw a pancake mix other day at the store, those cinnamon toast crunch pancakes.
Yeah.
Is it just like the sugar cinnamon at the bottom mixed in with?
I think it might have like actual pieces of cereal in the mix.
I don't know if I were to make it.
I would definitely have to add that to it.
All right.
Cool.
Perfect.
I guess that makes cinnamon toast crunch the undisputed champion.
Yes.
A goat.
If you could build the perfect breakfast sandwich, what would it consist of?
Probably be pretty similar to what we had just had, but good.
Either tortilla or bread.
Okay.
No.
Just plain white bread or you're going to go with like a bagel or a bun or sourdough.
Probably not too much focus on the bread.
Not a bagel because it's too much, a little too much carbs.
Yeah.
A little chewy.
Yeah.
Some scrambled eggs, maybe fried, good sausage.
And I like the hash browns just a little crispier, a little more cooked.
Yeah.
Avocado too.
We could have that on there.
Yeah.
No, I mean, the times that we've eaten breakfast together, you've always gotten a breakfast
breeder that was basically that exact same thing with avocado on top and salsa to dip
it in.
Love that.
Do you have any breakfast guilty pleasures?
Like are you like one of those guys that's like, hmm, let me go get a honey bun from
7-eleven or something like that.
I've been eating a little more donuts lately and that is kind of you guys' fault because
the reviewer of you makes me want donuts now.
We apologize.
Yeah.
And especially with the kids being out of school, I guess I'm going to plug this app even though
they don't know about me and I don't get shit from it, but there's an app called Tuga
to go.
Dude.
Yeah.
Plug away that app rules.
Got a lot of cheap donuts from there.
The thing is, you know, whatever they're, they made too much of or they're going to throw
away, you buy real cheap on that app.
So you can get like a dozen donuts for $6 or whatever.
I got a Tiff treats last week from there.
I got 5.99 and they just loaded up this bag.
I think they gave me like two dozen cookies and then like a corner of this like brownie
brittle, brookie thing.
I don't know.
Good for them.
Tuga is a great app.
If you don't have that, download it.
It'll show you in your area via location based services, kind of the restaurants that are
trying to do better by getting some of their food waste to you at a cheaper price.
So that's a cool, that's, that's cool that you do that.
I've seen a couple of different places.
I know for sure.
Shipley's is one of them that participates in Tuga to go.
Doboy Donuts actually does too good to go.
If you're into fancy, fancy donuts, I've had Doboy a couple of times and another, he's
down in Berluson now, right?
I think.
Yeah.
He started off in Fort Worth, but yeah, too good to go to a great place.
Great answer.
Guilty pleasure, donuts.
Don't, don't feel guilty.
Yeah.
Okay.
Be empowered.
It's got the hole in the middle.
So there's less guilt.
If it didn't have that hole, you could feel guilty.
Good point.
What's your favorite fast food breakfast?
I know it's obviously not Taco Bell today.
I used to at a school I worked at, there was a Taco Cabana on the way.
So I'd stop there and usually get two burritos, just egg and potato.
Awesome.
Those are pretty good in the morning.
Taco Cabana has some of the best tortillas in the world, I think.
I think roses has better.
Yeah, they're comparable, but yeah, I agree.
Roses is better quality, I think wise, but I think just the smell of Taco Cabana's tortillas
kind of transports me to a more nostalgic place than a roses.
I get that.
Do you have a favorite, maybe like chain breakfast restaurant like IHOP Waffle House or maybe
even a cool local mom and pop spot you want to like let us in on?
That would definitely be Old South.
I've been going there since I was a kid and I remember my dad took me there before school
sometimes and back then there was a bowling alley next door.
So when we had enough time, we'd go eat breakfast there and then go bowl before school.
That's an awesome memory.
Cool.
These turkey bacon trash are delicious.
Trash.
Hell yes.
Throw that shit away.
It's just turkey strips.
It's faking.
Do you consider oatmeal peasant food?
I haven't eaten oatmeal in a while, but I like it.
You can put them in another, put a bunch of stuff in there.
You can make it really good.
I love just a plain oatmeal, just a little bit of salt and water and oats as it.
I'll help you dig a nice poop either way.
Exactly.
I've had some overnight oats this past week.
HB's got some prepared ones.
I think they're like three bucks and they come with overnight oats and some almonds
and you can choose either strawberries or blueberries with them.
They're pretty good.
Awesome.
All right.
What is your favorite Jean-Claude Van Damme movie?
Definitely Bloodsport.
Yes.
Two for two.
I watched that with my kids recently and they both enjoyed it.
I loved that.
It's about time they saw it.
Hell yeah.
They're the perfect ages for that too.
Do you have a worst injury that you've ever had, whether training for a fight, maybe a
professional fight or even a street fight?
Did you get injured at all?
As long as I've been doing this, I've been lucky to not have many injuries.
Really only two and the worst of the two was a separated shoulder.
I was at a judo tournament and I just got thrown right on the point of my shoulder and
not dislocated but separated.
Do you still feel remnants of that?
There's definitely a lack of mobility but it's not painful at all anymore.
What is your favorite fighting arcade game?
Arcade, probably Mortal Kombat 2.
Yes.
I have a good memory of there was a place next to Wet and Wild when it was called Wet
and Wild.
I don't remember the name of it but they had a bunch of other rides and big arcade and
I saw right after Mortal Kombat 2 came out, a bunch of people crowded around watching
these two people play who knew all the fatalities.
That imprinted on my mind because of that.
It's like that movie The Wizard with Mario 3.
Kind of like that but Mortal Kombat 2.
What a time to be alive to see that.
Everybody ganging up to watch.
Two guys go at it on Mortal Kombat.
The Wizard's a good call.
Jenny Lewis is in that movie.
Yes she is.
Were you a professional wrestling fan?
Yes I was.
What was your favorite wrestler or era or event maybe?
Hulk Hogan was pretty much my hero growing up.
Hulkster.
Yeah brother.
I was in the era of Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Undertaker, Roddy Roddy Piper, Andre the
Giant which probably just because I was in it I think that's the best era of WWE, WWF
wrestling.
Me too.
Showtime.
I'm always remembered.
Anytime someone brings up Hulk Hogan they just that clip of Booker T accidentally saying
the end word.
It's like Hulk Hogan I'm coming for you.
The leg is like it's okay baby.
Yeah I love that answer.
Great.
Ultimate Warrior is definitely my favorite wrestler maybe of all time.
I'm a Moncho Maniac fan.
Moncho Maniac too.
All right.
Thoughts on trash talking while fighting.
Are there any rules when it comes to that?
You know as far as sportsmanship and respect goes.
We're talking about like professional fighting or street fighting or what?
I would say professional fighting.
There's no rules in street fighting obviously.
So is this in the match or before the match?
We can go both.
Like let's say you're doing a jujitsu match and are you guys in each other's ear like
talking shit to each other while you're rolling around?
I think either one before or during a match it can be a valid strategy for getting in
the other guy's head and just distracting them.
I wouldn't myself because I'm probably just going to be too focused on the match.
You whispered some pretty heinous things in my ear while you've been choking me out.
Yeah but that's you in this drill.
But if it's an easy enough match in a real competition I might just have the mental capacity
to do that.
Okay.
I don't know if it's good because I don't know how necessary it is and just not how
I am personally.
But I don't think it's wrong or bad or anything.
We always kind of give the caveat on this one.
The thought on that is just kind of like the Ryan Garcia lead up to that as far as like
and also just like wives and kids and that sort of thing.
Like we kind of just I had a theory that you know if you've got wives and kids you kind
of stay away from that sort of thing but if you don't have that you kind of lead into
that sort of thing as a way to kind of get into somebody's head.
As a subject matter I guess if you have those you don't do it.
Yeah I agree.
Let's see here what is your favorite movie show or anime training montage.
So we always kind of give examples.
Easy one is Rocky running up the stairs or.
Yeah that was a good one.
Not really a fighting movie but I think one of the best training montages is from Hot
Rod.
Oh yes classic.
Great answer.
I was not expecting that great answer.
That was a great answer.
So you've had a couple of fights.
Did you have a walk on song when you had your fights.
You have done two professional jiu-jitsu matches which both went terribly for me but for the
walk on song the first one I had a friend of mine who was a musician I think he still
is at the time.
He paid me to have one of his songs play and then the second one I had the imperial march
play.
Yes.
I'd be scared shitless if somebody came out of the imperial march because I'm like back
in black or like something crazy rock and roll and then obviously you're doing.
The guy who beat me pretty fast he complimented me on it.
At least he recognized that.
Then finally let's see here.
Do you have maybe a favorite fighter that has a walk on song that you really like or
just like maybe your favorite walk out song that you can remember.
I really don't watch much MMA so I couldn't answer that.
Okay no problem.
What about professional wrestler.
It's been so long since I really watched any matches besides the recent WrestleMania so
I couldn't say any songs that have playing.
Cool.
Well that has been our lightning round slash icebreaker questions so I guess we'll just
kind of like get into talking with you and hearing all about you.
So tell us a little bit about like did you play sports growing up kind of like your introduction
to like martial arts.
So I know I played at least one season of soccer.
I didn't really like it but being as a kid I was really into professional wrestling and
I think that is why my parents put me in judo when I was pretty young probably seven or
eight years old and we also had a few kids and friends in the neighborhood who were doing
it.
That got me into judo and then I did it for probably four or five years before I just
kind of got to be a fat lazy teenager.
Stopped for a while and then got back into it in college.
Okay.
Was that here in Fort Worth that you started training judo?
Yeah.
Fort Worth judo.
And that was it in the same location that's still in?
They've been in a few locations since then.
This at the time was at the I don't know if it's still there anymore but Fit for Life
on Bryan Irvin.
Okay.
Well they just had a room there and then they've moved several times in between then
and their current location.
Okay.
Cool.
Were there many judo schools growing up around here?
Because I'm not from around here.
There was Fort Worth judo and then I think a couple in the mid cities like Hurst or Bedford.
I always kind of wonder about that sort of thing just because it's so prevalent now
you know rock and see somebody's MMA gym but back when we were growing up I was just reminded
of this we were talking movies say anything you remember that movie?
Yeah I do.
How big John Cusack was into kickboxing in that movie and how that was such kind of his
like his jam and I was just thinking about that in the 80s how like that was the trope
of like thinking this guy was like not serious or crazy because he was in the kickboxing
or martial arts or whatever but like yeah growing up I was just always wondering about
access to schools.
Yeah.
Taekwondo was huge growing up like 80s and 90s Taekwondo was everywhere.
Yeah Taekwondo and karate.
Yeah.
And there's still not a whole lot of judo schools because for a variety of reasons but
jiu-jitsu is everywhere.
Yeah jiu-jitsu is blowing up.
So judo is mainly Brazil and Russia yeah like as far as like concentrated international
like powerhouses.
Yeah Russia is very good Brazil too Japan of course and South Korea is also very strong.
Interesting.
Okay cool.
So you got back into judo in college and I guess you took it pretty seriously because
you are a black belt in judo if I'm not mistaken.
Yes I am.
So how long did it take you from when you got back into judo until you got your black
belt.
I think it was like four and a half or five years and I think now it might be might take
people a little bit longer but at the time I was completely obsessed with it you know
there was a time when I was training six days a week so it could have been a little accelerated
for me compared to other people.
Okay how many hours a day were you training during that period.
For practice probably an hour and a half or two hours and then running and weightlifting
outside of that.
You're dedicated.
I had big dreams that of course didn't happen of going to the Olympics or at least doing
something bigger with it.
You know that would have been awesome if you were made the Olympics.
Did you do any like judo competitions.
I was competing constantly during that time.
What was your record if you remember.
I don't remember.
You know I would win some matches in local tournaments nothing very big or as big as
I wanted but I wanted one or two matches that what's called a E level tournament which
you can get national rankings for.
And you know there's like EDCBA.
A is like the biggest international tournaments but it was still bigger than the local non
points tournaments so I felt pretty good about when you won or two there.
Did you get to travel at all doing judo.
Yeah went to a few camps around the country and several trips to Japan to train.
That's amazing I loved Japan I've been once.
Oh yeah that's my favorite place.
I've never been I want to go so bad.
That's so cool.
So you said you had traveled a little bit done some judo at the same time where you
also training anything else or were you just solely focused and obsessed with judo.
Just judo.
Yeah and so you got your black belt about what year did you get your black belt.
That was 2006.
Okay wow so when I met you you already had a you'd had a black belt for a couple years
at that point.
Yeah I've had.
I mean again like I said at the beginning when I first met you you were the guy who
lived in like the back room with the wrestling mats on the floor like hey you want to go
like Kevin throw you around his room.
Like the lore around you before I got to know you I mean it's even better now but at that
point you were a very mysterious guy with the wrestling mats that would throw you across
the room because you were a black belt.
Yeah this house we lived in I kind of had the back section and it used to be a duplex
so like the main room I turned into the little dojo and then there was a kitchen to the side
of it that I turned into my bedroom.
Gotta get those throws on.
So about 2006 what year did you start getting into jujitsu?
I've been doing it a little bit at that same time to just supplement judo but I really
got serious with it in 2012 when I moved back here but I was doing it a little bit when
I lived in Beijing and Shanghai.
What's the jujitsu scene like over there?
It was pretty big.
In Beijing it was more or pretty much all Chinese residents and then Shanghai being more international
there were a lot of foreigners at the trainings there.
But at the time you know this was also 12 years ago I think there was none of the instructors
where I went were black belts yeah they're all just brown belts but of course I'm sure
they've got tons of black belts now and bigger instructors.
That's really cool awesome so that was like 2010, 2011 when you were training over there?
I moved there in I think 2012 and came back in 2013.
So 2012 started in jujitsu and then you're a black belt in jujitsu now correct?
Yes I am.
Then when did you get your black belt?
That was just about three years ago now.
So like 2021 and where did you get your black belt from in jujitsu?
I got that from a gym called Zombie Crew which unfortunately is no longer open but the instructor
was George Perez and he's still around still friends.
That's awesome yeah that place was really cool they did a lot of cool stuff.
Do you train now?
I do more judo this summer especially because I'm taking my kid here Calvin.
Say hi Calvin.
But a couple times a week I'll just go to my friends gym early in the mornings we'll
get a bunch of rounds in.
I love that.
I, man getting judo thrown especially when you're doing jujitsu is like the most jarring
thing.
One of my least favorite things is getting thrown across the mat in a judo form so the
fact that you train that regularly.
Yeah it's hard on the body and you know not doing it for a while being more focused on
jujitsu I kind of fell out of practice but since we've been doing more judo again my
body's kind of adapting back to it so just kind of have to keep up with it and not fall
out of it.
Awesome.
So for both jujitsu and judo what's been like the hardest part for either one of those
for you?
As far as what?
Just like getting your black belts in there like besides like the repetitions and the
time was there anything else that you found like exceptionally challenging during your
training?
I'll probably differ from a lot of people from this you know whenever you can see those
black belt speeches or posts they always talk about the blood sweat and tears of it all
but I just thought it was always fun all the time.
You know you'll get little injuries here and there and there may be frustrating competitions
but the fun and benefit at all outweighs the bad stuff so much.
So I thought it was just time and doing it was the hardest part but I don't think that's
hard because it's fun.
Do you think that there's any excuse me do you think that there's any professionals that
you like look up to as far as like judo is concerned or even in jujitsu that you saw that
you kind of wanted to model like maybe some training styles after?
Yeah some similar body types and guys I just liked a lot which I haven't watched much professional
judo in a while but one of my favorites was Kosei Inui.
He's got a throw called Uchi Mata which is one of the coolest throws to see and do and
he was just an expert at that beating other world level people with it like at Olympics
and World Championships.
He's since retired because it's been a while since then but jujitsu for technique and also
just presence and personality one of my favorites is Craig Jones.
He's got a similar body type to me and he's just funny as hell so I like that.
I love that.
Yeah.
I always wonder like he said who do you see yourself kind of similar to I think as dudes
we tend to do that like we see who we match up with or who would be kind of in our weight
class I think and so we're always kind of have that in the back of our mind even though
we're not anywhere close to professional level.
We're always thinking like who would you fight?
Abraham Lincoln.
Awesome.
Is there going to kind of move on to some other aspects but is there any like judo or
jujitsu stuff locally or anything you want to plug I'm going to kind of get into some
other aspects of your life here in just a minute.
Fort Worth judo you know I've been there since I was a kid and I'm getting back into it consistently
now and also you know I train at my friends jam one dojo they have a really good homeschool
program.
Oh yeah.
Also really just good teachers and instructors.
It's my friend Wes and his wife Belle.
Yeah if you're in Fort Worth definitely check them out the Fort Worth area.
If you need any sort of judo training take Kevin's advice he is a black belt he's been
doing it for quite some time so if you're in the Fort Worth area look up Fort Worth
judo and see if you can get a class in see if it's up your alley.
The head instructor Tommy Dyer who's an Olympic alternate I think in the 88 Olympics so he's
about as good as you can find around here.
Wow.
I don't think you're going to find better so Fort Worth judo shout out to them and then
you said one dojo.
One dojo.
Shout out one dojo you've told me a little bit about them and they have a really cool
program everybody should go look them up on social media.
Yeah and it's not just jiu-jitsu they've also got like movement therapy and dance classes
and Belle who I think she's now working on her PhD in education she does a lot for kids
with sensory issues or just having trouble like moving and things like that which she's
had a lot of good success with her programs.
They offer really cool much needed like training facility and forth that not a lot of places
are going to cater to and have the dynamic that they have.
Right.
That's amazing I have not heard of that I'm going to look them up and give them a follow
on socials if I can.
You said movement and that sort of thing I see here that you are Kettlebell Mace battle
rope on it certified is that correct?
Yeah I used to do a lot of fitness work and went on it several times for a lot of their
certifications.
That's down in Austin is that right?
Yes.
Okay cool.
How are those facilities?
They've got an incredible gym there.
You know they've got the gym part just you know they got members working out and also
like the back part which is where they do all the classes and education things.
So it's a pretty incredible facility.
That's cool I've always kind of wanted to go and give that place a once over myself
just because you know you hear about it all the time from different athletes and podcasts
and that sort of thing.
So to know somebody that's actually been there is very cool and quite jealous.
So definitely recommend it.
And so what which certifications do you have because you and I we used to do like a weekly
I mean I say you and I just attended you're the one who was doing everything but weekly
like Kettlebell Mace and battle rope workout in the park and I know you and I believe your
wife are both certified correct?
Yeah I've done the Kettlebell's battle ropes, Steel Mace, Steel Clubs and the foundations
which is like the basics of all the other tools they use and then me and my wife or
my wife did the Steel Mace certification with me.
Awesome and if anyone listening to this is not familiar like Kettlebell's are pretty
like household name at this point.
I think Steel Maces are getting more popular they're definitely more popular now than they
were when I got into them like 12 years ago.
But it's a literally just like a ball on the end of a pole that you swing around and it's
just a great workout and you can get different sizes and yeah Kevin showed me like how to
properly swing a Mace around.
I'd had one for years and he corrected my form and yeah it was awesome battle ropes.
If you're not familiar with those again it's a big rope and there's some different exercises
you can do.
I was not super familiar and again Kevin helped me like kind of fix my form and really get
the most out of using battle ropes.
That's true.
Yeah my form was trashed.
I think that's a great thing to talk about as far as like those particular tools for
getting fit is that if you don't have somebody that actually knows how to do that sort of
thing you can hurt yourself really quickly with Kettlebell's and Mace and that sort of
thing.
If you'd like to know more about that I'm sure Kevin can help you out with that.
Kettlebell, Mace, battle rope, anything like that.
Sure.
I don't really teach any fitness classes anymore but I'm always happy to help or answer
questions however I can.
I'm constantly texting Kevin like a video of me doing Kettlebell swings.
He's like, gotta push your hips up more.
You gotta do this.
Like he...
Also put some shorts on.
I don't need your pants off.
Yeah.
Kevin was like, why are you so clothed?
I'm like I'm just wearing shorts and he's like that's too much clothing.
But no, Kevin has given me wonderful pointers on getting better at all of that stuff.
So yeah, super knowledgeable in that.
And then I guess so along with doing the Kettlebell stuff and that's again something
that I kind of met you through.
We did an on it trip one time to the warehouse.
We drove down overnight to buy some Maces and Kettlebells and stuff at super discounted
prices.
It was awesome.
But you also have the Fort Worth Float Company, which is where we are sitting right now.
We've been recording this podcast live.
Well, not live.
You're not listening to a live but we are live at the Fort Worth Float Company, which
is Kevin's business.
Tell us like kind of tell us what the float company is.
What do you do here?
So mainly the main service we offer is sensor deprivation tanks.
I've got three of them and also a sauna and a cold plunge.
So all are really good for physical recovery.
And then the float tanks have a lot of mental benefits as well, especially these days.
We're all stressed and so busy.
I have too much sensory feedback all the time.
And it's just an opportunity to turn your brain off for a while.
Just get a serious mental and physical reset.
So Renee, have you ever been in a?
I have never been.
Okay.
So I've done it quite a few times.
But for Renee and for people listening who don't know what a float tank is kind of describe
like what it looks like, how it works.
I mean, you don't have to pull back the curtain entirely.
But you know, just for people who may have never heard of this or have heard about it
and passing from like a Simpsons episode or Joe Rogan episode or something.
Yeah.
So there are a bunch of different models of float tanks.
The ones I have are all completely enclosed.
I have two that are cabin style, which just has a higher ceiling and a little more box
here than the other, which is a pod style.
And that's kind of the common idea a lot of people have when they think of float tanks.
It's a little shorter and it has a curved lid on the top, which has kind of a hatch
that you open to get in and out.
And then the cabins have a door to the side.
So people who are maybe claustrophobic, certain about the space, that's the better option
for them.
But in all of them, they have a high distance, high density of Epsom salt.
And the solution is heated to about skin temperature.
So the idea is once you get in and settled, you really don't feel the water anymore.
And there's so much salt in the water that you really float with no effort just because
it's so dense.
Yeah.
And so then also like once your time goes off, you go into the dark, so it against sensory
deprivation tank.
So it is just you floating there at body temperature.
So it feels like there's not even water touching your body.
Your eyes are not picking up any light.
You've got earplugs in while you're in the water, so you're not getting any sound.
And it is it's the most relaxing thing you can do.
And it is a big leap for a lot of people to turn everything off like that.
So you do have some options for leaving on the lights and the music.
But I really think the way to get the most out of it is just to shut everything off
for an hour because that's why you're here.
Yeah, it's it feels like taking like a four or five hour nap, but in an hour and you
completely lose track of time while you're in there.
So an hour feels like it lasts, you know, because you're not looking at a clock or anything.
It feels like it lasts like 15 minutes.
Like you're like, oh, man, I'm trying to get comfortable.
And then you're like, you lose yourself.
And then next thing you know, the timer is going off.
I'm like, oh, wow, it's been an hour.
It's been an hour and a half.
That's crazy.
It went by so fast.
Yeah, I think that's one of the coolest things about it is losing the sense of time to.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So so yeah, we've got you got the float tanks going on here.
And then you also said you've got a cold plunge in a sauna.
Tell us a little bit about that.
So I've got those two in the room together.
What most people do is go back and forth between the two fire.
Nice.
Yep.
The sauna, we always keep around 140 and then the cold plunge is between 40 and 45 most
days.
So really, it's 100 degree temperature difference between the two.
And you both have a lot of benefits, especially when you combine them for improving circulation
and immune system and also just mental benefits of doing something uncomfortable and something
you don't want to.
Yeah.
Getting in that cold plunge is a can be a very intense moment or a few moments, if you
will.
Yeah, it's a challenge, but you feel pretty great afterwards.
Yeah, it's it's crazy.
How good you feel when you get out of that?
I'm curious, like, so again, a big thing that we've been talking about today is your
like Jiu Jitsu and your Judo career.
How can fighters like if local fighters in Fort Worth, if they're preparing for a match,
how can they use these tools to like help them prepare for a fight that's coming up?
Well, I do have a few UFC MMA fighters come in, which we can talk about later.
But you know, for the floats, that's I think one of the best ways to utilize it is just
use it for visualization because you don't have any other external distractions and you
can really focus and think through strategies, positions, anything with your upcoming fights.
And also there is the physical recovery benefit.
You know, essentially, you don't have any gravity on you.
So your muscles and joints can really relax and decompress when you're in there.
And then for the sauna and cold plunge, of course, sauna can be good for a cutting weight
if you need to, but also the cold plunge and especially combining with the sauna, it does
a lot for reducing inflammation and helping soreness.
Yeah.
I think the big part for me is the mental part because I'm not a professional fighter,
obviously, and I don't have any matches coming up.
But I think that is something that if you're a fan of this podcast or if you're a fan of
violence or MMA or violent sports and something in general, you probably would benefit from
some time with turning your brain off a little bit.
And I think that is good for people that are interested in that sort of thing as far as
like fighting or like training.
Their brains tend to be firing at all cylinders all the time.
And so we tend to get in our own way sometimes.
And I think for me, the mental aspect of all of this is probably the most important
thing.
Like you said, if you've got a fight coming up great, but also if you're just like a regular
everyday person and you're bombarded with all of the news stories and social media and
all the external input that you get from living in the real world in 2024, this is a great
place to come and shut it off for a little while and kind of get some clarity as to who
you are on the inside and that sort of thing.
So I think one of the real interesting things about it and I hear a lot is the seemingly
random thoughts that come into people's minds when they're in there.
Like it could be something you haven't thought about in years or just some other issue that
maybe need solving and they're just randomly popped to the front of your brain, which there's
got to be some reason for it, but I think it's pretty fascinating.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome.
It's got to be like maybe your brain like decluttering or something just like, oh, hey, all of this
like noise I've been forcing into it.
Now it's all cleared and I can face this.
That's really interesting.
I've definitely had that kind of happen when I've been in there.
Oh, yeah.
I've had things I've been putting off that have popped up and I've had to like kind of
face and think about.
So that's definitely a good thing.
Awesome.
You said that you do have some fighters who come here like during their training or the
recovery.
Yeah.
James Bick, who former UFC fighter, he's one of my regular is comes in almost every
week for the cold blunge and the float.
And our guest last week.
I believe James is training his son.
That's correct.
Yeah.
Also, Rizak Al-Hassan, who is from Fort Worth, Arlington, he's got a fight coming up and
he's coming to me once a week.
Awesome.
I've seen him fight.
Yeah.
He's a good one.
Yeah.
Also, Mohamed Usman, he's I think endeavor now, but brother of Kamal Usman.
Yeah.
He hasn't seen him in a while, but he was coming a lot when I first opened up.
That's so very cool.
Those are some humongous names as far as the UFC is concerned and MMA is concerned.
So very cool to see them coming into visit a homies local place just because of how
quality it is here.
So yeah, I'm always excited to be part of their training camp and hopefully contributing
to some of their success.
Cool.
So yeah, we talked about float company.
We've talked about your Jiu Jitsu and your Judo and all that.
Is there anything you want to say about the float company?
Like, where can people find you online?
Give us your website or your phone number.
Website is just the name, Fort Worth Float Company dot com and got Facebook and Instagram
too, not Twitter because I didn't want to learn how to use it.
I'm in that same boat.
So if you need any sort of floating, what's the correct term?
If you need some time to come float or to take a cold plunge or to take a sauna, it's
Fort Worth Float Company dot com.
Hop on there and you'll see their hours and you could probably book an appointment even,
maybe.
Yeah, we've got links to the booking system and all the social media and always feel free
to ask me questions about it on there because I like talking about it.
Yeah, I love that.
Cool.
Is there anything that I didn't go over, Renee, that you want to go over or questions
on this?
I'm just more excited to get to know Kevin personally and hopefully, like he said, he's
now a third co-host.
We'll be learning more and more about him and obviously you'll hear from him in future
episodes.
I think this will probably be maybe a once a week or I'm sorry, a once a month check-in
where you can check in with Kevin.
I mean, if he's the new third co-host, he'll be here once a week.
He'll check in with Kevin maybe once a month and come get floated and check in with him
and see how he's doing and see what's going on in the world of judo, juditsu and floating.
Yeah, today I wanted to have both these guys do the cold punch beforehand, but I had to
refill it yesterday and it's still cooling down, but maybe next time.
Yeah, we'll have to come back and definitely get some content and also just to try it out
and give our own reviews.
You've already tried it out, but...
Yeah, I got a Wim Hof class a couple of years ago for my birthday and that was my first
cold punch and shortly after that I think is when you got your cold punch here and
so I've been a few times and it is an intense thing, but if you have pain in any part of
your body, that intense cold makes you forget anything that hurts, but it also helps with
that inflammation and you feel amazing after you get out of that.
I'm hardly ever sore anymore if I'm consistent with it and my favorite time to do it is on
my judo days, maybe an hour and a half or two hours before.
I feel like it really mentally gets me sharper and just more physical energy as well.
So come get your cold plunge on, come get your float on, but yeah, I think that's probably
start wrapping up now.
We've been going for a little while.
Yeah, sure.
I want to talk about finding more.
Yeah, let's talk about it.
About fighting.
Anything.
Okay.
I'm the third co-host, but it's mostly you guys.
Yeah, so you said you've done two professional fights.
Do you want to talk about those?
Well I'd call them more semi-professional.
There's two organizations, the bigger ones, Fight2Win and Submission Hunter Pro, where
the way those works are like people apply to be on it and if they get a match, then
they'll kind of sell the tickets and get a cut of that and maybe a little more if they
win.
So not completely professional, but you can make a little bit of money from it and just
be on a big stage in front of everybody.
That's awesome.
And when you do that, do you like rep the Fortwood Float Company on your gear or anything
like that?
On the GEE match I did, I think I did have a patch and then my other match was no GEE
and I don't believe I had one on that.
Okay, very cool.
So do you have any fights coming up or anything like that?
Or any competitions or anything?
Not really.
I haven't really competed in a while.
Just hasn't really been a priority, especially because I have a new baby at home.
Ah, yes.
Yeah, you've been a dad.
We're all dads here, but you've been a dad for quite a while, but you have a one month
old daughter, right?
Yeah, I've got a one month old daughter, almost a nine year old son and a 14 year old son.
Do they train at all?
The older one, he's never been too interested.
The middle one, he loves it.
He'll come with me to Jiu-Jitsu and Judo.
The one month old is a black belt.
I'm playing videos for her, but I don't know how much she's been training.
I know, you know, if she takes after you and your wife, she'll be strangling people in
no time.
Maybe by the time she's walking, she'll be throwing somewhere naked chokehold.
Yeah, that's the plan.
That's kind of a question I had.
Speaking of, like my wife has zero interest in probably training Jiu-Jitsu, but so do
you guys ever roll together?
My wife just trained.
I haven't for a while because of the pregnancy and everything.
No, she must be on.
No, I'm just kidding.
She's on the mats like twice a day, seven days a week, right?
She's wanted to do this whole time, but I've had to stop her.
But yeah, she's a blue belt on Jiu-Jitsu.
That's amazing.
That's cool.
I always think it's cool to see couples that kind of like get into the same thing and kind
of roll together.
The people that I have been training with out in Wetherford, Neanderthal, they are husband
and wife that run that gym.
And so it's always cool to see, especially with some of the newer people, he'll take
his wife and be like, hey, go roll with her and then she'll just hand me off real quick.
And you're like, okay, cool.
I suck at this.
Yeah, I wanted to ask about that.
I heard you train there and I've been doing Neanderthal a few times.
Yeah, I've been there a couple of times.
I haven't been in probably like a year, but I went for probably like a year straight.
Yeah, before that.
So same thing, kind of injury, kids, that whole thing.
But I'd love to get back into it.
We just got a book recently recommended to us, Fuel for Fighters or Food for Fighters,
something like that.
And so we've been talking about kind of cooking our way through that book and leaning up a
little bit and kind of lifting a little bit, kind of get back into rolling and that sort
of thing.
And we're not just talking about it, we can be about it as well.
We're going to live it.
Yeah.
You live out there close to Neanderthal?
I live five minutes away.
Yeah.
I think for the 100th episode Parker and I are actually going to fight each other.
So that's the plan.
Can I wear a free?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yep.
This just popped into my head.
What is it that you particularly love about heel hooks?
I don't know, just for whatever reason, I'm good at it and kind of had needs to time catching
them.
Could be my body type having longer legs, which allows me to kind of keep the other person
farther away while still keeping control of their leg.
That makes sense.
You caught me with a lot of heel hooks.
And you know, I also, even in the GEE before I knew any better, I was doing leg locks and
heel hooks pretty early on as a white belt.
And now as techniques go, those are a lot more popular and prevalent.
But I think maybe I just had a little more success because I've been working them a lot
longer than other local or non professional people around.
Okay.
Would you consider that a sneaky move?
Depends how you set it up.
You know, everybody knows about heel hooks now, but if you surprise them with it, it
can definitely be sneaky.
I know you're a sneaky guy.
Yep.
I like wrist locks too, in case you didn't know.
Oh, I definitely knew you like wrist locks.
My wrists have been sore for days after rolls with you.
How important is grip strength when it comes to judo and judo too?
Extremely important.
Especially in the GEE.
I think that's one thing that some people kind of overlook when it comes to that sort
of training is like, you just need to get a big bucket of sand and start working.
Yeah.
That's one of the things that got me into the Macy's and Steel Clubs because you got
to have a lot of grip strength for those.
Yeah.
I just saw recently, there was a grip strength competition that had like multiple, I think
there was 22 different categories or something like that.
And this person that had never competed in it just happened to be a rock climber.
And so he's up there with all of the strongmen of the world that actually do strongman competitions.
And I think they gave him an award for most pound for pound best grip because his grip
is so insane for climbing rocks.
It wasn't that Alex dude that climbed you, somebody like your face wall or whatever.
It might have been.
I know that he's that kind of dude where he just sees something like, fuck it, I'm going
to do it.
And they were trying to explain to him the events before you're like, okay, you have
to do this and this and this.
But yeah.
It seems like some shit Kevin would do.
Grip strength is amazingly important when it comes to like, you're like you're saying
throwing, locking people up and holds that sort of thing.
You know, because especially in Judo, you have to hold on another guy and pull their
whole body through that.
So you know, if that's the weak connection, you're not going to really get anything done.
Very cool.
Good guy, if you want to see like grip strength exercises on Instagram is I think his name
on there is raspberry ape.
Oh yeah, I've seen that guy.
He's also a Jiu-Jitsu guy.
I think his real name is Dan Strauss, but he's super strong.
He's got a lot of really cool videos you can see.
Is he the one who does like has different things he holds on to while he does pull up
some stuff?
Yeah.
Yeah, that guy is insane.
Have you seen him?
Yeah.
And his hands have to just be like vice grips.
Yeah, some guys you can just feel if they have a good grip, when you grab their wrist,
like it's just thicker than it should be.
Those guys are scary.
That's what she said.
No.
Yeah.
So grip strength is important.
What about nutrition?
That's pretty important to you when it comes to that sort of thing.
Definitely now that I'm getting older, I try to do better at that.
But Judo especially is kind of hard, you know, you got to have enough energy for the practice,
but if you eat too soon with all the rolling and throwing, I can get nauseous.
Yeah.
So that's something I'd have to really dial in lately.
Oh, especially getting thrown across that mat on a full stomach.
No thank you.
You've also been involved in martial arts for consistently for quite some time.
So have you seen like trends come and go or like people have like because they watch the
UFC or because they listen to a podcast or because they have seen a more popular person
do something that they'll come into the gym or they'll come in looking for that sort of
thing or like, have you seen trends come and go when it comes to like Jiu Jitsu and Judo
and that sort of thing?
Yeah, especially in Jiu Jitsu because that's so popular, especially because of the UFC.
And definitely now the trend is more no g like a lot of people want to do that more.
Planet ship.
Yeah.
It comes to Planet, but also all the big events like ADCC, who's number one, all those promotions,
they're all no g.
So a lot of people are more interested in that than gay lately.
Yeah.
I've heard and seen that as well.
A lot of Eddie Bravo enthusiasts coming for mission control and that sort of thing.
Yeah.
There was a lot of 10th Planet influence for a while, but as far as the big competitions
go, like ADCC, none of those guys have been that successful.
There are some, but I think 10th Planet just has more promotional value that they capitalized
on early and seemed like lately it's fallen off a lot, especially compared to B team and
new wave, which is Gordon Ryan's gym.
Speaking of amazing, yeah, Jiu Jitsu players, Gordon Ryan is a character and a half.
He has a personality too.
Yeah.
Like his hair.
He's got cool hair.
Got cool hair.
He's a cool follow.
I guess it was like maybe a year or two ago whenever he got injured and got super big
and then got super ripped right afterwards.
He is constantly in competition and he's constantly giving his critiques on what he thinks is
right and wrong and Jiu Jitsu.
So if you're not familiar with him, give him a little follow and check out some of his
highlights that dude as a master when it comes to Jiu Jitsu and combat sports in general.
Do you think he's going to make his way over to the UFC?
I don't think so.
I think I stick with BJJ.
But I think for a while he did have some kind of deal for going to MMA, but for whatever
reason he didn't go through with that.
I wouldn't want to do it either.
Yeah.
Getting hit in the face is not a cool thing.
It's the worst.
That's why I've stuck with grappling the whole time.
I don't know anything about striking and don't really want to.
Yeah.
Like I said in one of the early episodes, I took a movie tie class and I loved it.
I just feel like I don't want to do that.
I don't want to get punched.
I don't want to get kicked.
I just want to roll around and cuddle.
Yeah.
Those leg kicks do not look fun.
No.
And here in last week, our guest last week, Mr. James Gray, he was telling us about how
he took some really gnarly leg kicks and one of his fights and how bad it hurt.
And I went back and I watched this video.
You sent me about the like top 10 fights at UFC that will make you a fight like fan.
And I was watching that first fight on the video, Connor McGregor and then Nate Diaz.
And the way McGregor was just attacking Nate Diaz's leg.
And I could just see his legs swelling throughout the match.
And all I could think about was Mr. James Gray talking about that.
I was like, oh, that has to be so painful.
And that is also why I am not a fan of striking.
Smart.
Yeah.
That first fight on that video compilation, that's actually the second time they met up
and that was Connor McGregor revenge because he was not supposed to lose that first fight
in the eyes of the media and fans and whatnot.
But yeah, that plan was to just completely smash that leg and take away his lead leg.
So that way he'd have little to no power when it comes to throwing those punches.
I'm not, I don't like that.
I don't like seeing that.
The other one that I don't like is like that kind of like that oblique kick where they're
trying to dislocate your dislocate your knee and that that sort of thing.
I mean, just like, oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Leg kicks, no fun.
Striking in the face, no fun.
Just sticks to grappling.
That's our big takeaway here today.
Yep, I agree.
Cuddle with your bros.
And then come float afterwards and think about it.
Renee, you know more about UFC than me.
Are there any rules on leg kicks?
I know.
I thought there was something about not kicking directly on their knee.
No.
Okay.
The only rule when it comes to kicking is a grounded opponent and that is also different
whenever it comes to jurisdiction.
I think in New Jersey you're allowed to kick a grounded opponent if they have.
Wow.
Yeah.
I think there's a couple of states that the kicking a grounded opponent changes.
But for the most part, Joe Rogan usually talks about how you can end somebody's career
with that, but that it's kind of like unspoken, but it's not against the rules.
And I think lately, John Jones is the biggest perpetrator of that violence.
That's his favorite thing to come out and try to basically take your knee out and dislocate
it and not allow you to move forward.
But yeah, no rules there.
Yeah.
No, no, no, no growing strikes, no kicking to a grounded opponent.
But other than that.
Yeah, on the ground, no tenders, 12 to six elbows.
Yeah, that's true.
No grabbing the fence.
But they get away with all that stuff all the time anyway.
So.
Mm.
Yeah.
No.
Cool.
Well, how long have we been going for?
We've been going.
We're creeping up on the hour and 20.
Hour and 15?
Yeah.
So yeah, what's...
Want to wrap it up?
Yeah, let's go ahead and wrap this up with our last little things.
You want to plug the phone number again?
Well, thank you very much, Kevin.
I appreciate you opening up your space to us and opening up your life to us.
Like I said, we can have you back anytime.
You're a cool guy that knows a lot about cool stuff and we're always looking for that sort
of content for this podcast.
If you have any sort of comment or you want to call us, it's 682-294-0101.
Follow on all of the social medias.
If you have Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, if you're old, that's a running joke.
Yeah.
If you have any of those sort of things, give us a follow and find us everywhere you find
podcasts and give us a little like and subscribe and share and tell your friends about us and
all that good stuff.
And while you're doing all that, make sure to go check out Fort Worth Float Company
at Fort Worth Float Company.com and you're on Instagram and Facebook.
Yes.
Awesome.
Thank you Taco Bell.
I mean, kind of.
I'm not going to think Taco Bell.
Well, they provided a Baja Blast this morning.
Thank you Taco Bell.
Thank you Parker.
Thank you Kevin.
Thank you Calvin for letting us borrow your dad for a bit.
And thank you Wives and Kids for allowing us to do the podcast for a bit.
We appreciate everybody for listening and we hope you have a good rest of your day.
Bye.
Thanks for having me.
You can't need to be back every time.
I'm sorry.